Interlude: You Made Me Love Xanadu- Mr. Blue Sky
- Location
- Pennsylvania
"Oh boy! Gargoyles!" Arizona cheers, taking all of the spirits around you off guard. Whatever response they might have been expecting, this clearly is not it. "My Junior Woodchuck Guidebook barely said anything about them at all! "
"Uh… gargoyles?" Max echoes. "Like those things on downspouts and churches?"
"I dunno, the only thing the guidebook says is that they're found all over the world and they sit on buildings during the day. Seems like they were pretty common way back when."
The clan leader - Xun, if they're still passing along names as they did in your time, looks at you with disbelief.
"You are the Great Khan?" he asks in surprise. "You who made the first contact with our kind?"
"I am." You see no reason to deny your identity.
"Don't tell me," Max says. "You're over a thousand years old? You've already met, I'm sure."
"No," Xun says. "But our people have long memories. Come with me."
Following the elderly clan leader and his honor guard, your group is escorted into Xanadu. The gargoyles, recently awakened from their stone sleep, watch you all with a mix of awe, fear, and contempt. Their expressions are unguarded, but their stances are not. The pixu are cautious of the outsiders, even if some appear to have never laid eyes on humans before.
The gargoyles stop at the aged stone temple, permitting your group to enter. A pair of the gargoyles, a humanoid one and a gargoyle beast, light lanterns inside the building with torches held in hand and mouth, respectively.
When all lanterns are lit, the image becomes clear. A visual history of the Khans and the Xanadu, starting with a red, serpentine gargoyle that bore the name of Xun and yourself. Now that you are wearing mystical wings of ruby, the picture becomes all the more uncanny.
"For generations, the Xanadu have maintained the art of our ancestors. You are the Great Khan. How, after over seven hundred years, have you returned from the realm of the dead?"
"The people of zis time holdt great magic," you begin, but then notice your tutor glaring at you sternly. "Not magic. But power. Vun of mine descendants saw fit to use zis power to return me to ze worldt."
"Not magic?" Xun asks askance. "Then what?"
"Ze powah ov science!" Ludivine declares.
"Such miracles as my clan has never considered…" the leader responds.
"Eh, I wouldn't get too excited," the witch-girl notes. "I asked if we could maybe bring back John Keats too, Doof said Khan was kinda a one-time thing."
"He couldn't clone me a new body either," Felldrake grumbles.
"Speaking of Khan," she continued, ignoring Felldrake. "How come you made an ancient pact with them? And how are they still around after seven hundred some years?"
You think back to a time long past, when your great conquests had only begun. It was in the middle of your campaign to conquer the Jin dynasty when some of your troops first came across the reclusive clan. Seeing no reason not to extend them the same courtesies you offered every other tribe, you had opened negotiations with the clan leader. It was against the advice of your lieutenants and some members of your family, but you had no regrets from it.
"I offered them a chance to join my empire, with all the protections that would entail. Throughout my lifetime there were no significant conflicts between this clan and my people."
"Fascinating! To think that there were political agreements between the local warlords and hidden gargoyle clans!" Arizona exclaims happily. "Aw, I bet I can write a thesis on this! How many other leaders made pacts with gargoyles long ago?"
"Don't count on it," Janna explained. "They kinda wanna stay hidden, you know? Academia probably isn't gonna like you citing things you've only seen yourself, and I don't think the clans will like it either."
"Aww…"
"The first Xun called your reign a harsh rule, but a fair one. All were fair under your laws. For better or worse, you encouraged our continued interaction with the outside world."
"That fits the history books," Arizona Goof says. "Temujin's biggest goal was making everyone get along." You look at him strangely for phrasing it as such, but do not disagree. In your time, traitors and violators of your laws would be punished severely. Whether that meant a swift beheading or being smashed to dust during the day, it made no difference.
"The years following your death went… poorly." Xun emphasized the last word. "Your descendants did not see fit to honor the agreement you made with us. At first that came in the form of ceasing trade and lessened contact. Our ancestors did not care at first… until the occupation."
You frown. What could your descendants have done?
"At first, they did not understand the cause for the hostility in your children. The laws became more strict, increasingly hostile to our kind. We lost much in this time. Family. Culture. Records from before the occupation have been lost to the winds."
Your allies take on more somber expressions as Xun recounts his clan's history. By extension, the legacy you left behind.
"We did not take kindly to this invasion upon our very way of life, but we did not truly rebel until your descendants tried to seize our rookery."
A cold breeze blows into the decrepit temple. The old lanterns flicker, casting shadows upon your image along the walls.
"The rookery is the heart of the clan. When it became clear what the Khans had in mind for future generations of our people, we could bear them no longer. Your children were banished from Xanadu as their own empire crumbled around them, and we have had our gates closed to interference from outsiders ever since."
You grunt. If it is as they say, the actions of the gargoyles were just. You spent decades forging unity and trying to cement honor among your people. Always, you had feared your death would herald its end. "That was never what I intended for our people. But now-"
"I know what you will ask, Great Khan," Xun replies. "The answer is no. Never again will Xanadu prostate itself before outsiders. The wounds of centuries past leave scars all the same."
There is a pause as nothing is heard but the soft whisper of the mountain wind.
"However."
Diplomacy Check - Avoided due to Crit!
"We are not thieves. Long ago, you entrusted us with your treasures, Khan, and never did you break our pact. These items we kept from your unworthy successors, we will return to you."
Janna grins "Sweet."
"At least the trip won't be a total waste," Max says.
"Normally I'd say these belong in a museum," Arizona says. "But I reckon if this stuff was yours, you ought ta have it!"
As Xun leads your group deeper into the temple, the witch-girl starts to talk to her staff. "Soooo, Felldrake. How were you gonna use an army of people that turn into stone during the day to take over the world?"
"I told you, I never actually visited Xanadu! I just knew it was significant somehow and had some cool monsters!"
The gargoyles escorting you look annoyed. One of the beasts, a shaggy black and white lion, growls in aggrevation.
"Relax guys," Janna says. "We're taking 'monster' back."
"Anyway yeah, I was just planning on rounding up some good minions. Before we showed up I just assumed we'd be facing down a bunch of rogue meteorbeasts."
"What's a meteorbeast?" Max questions nervously.
"I'll tell you when we go to Norway."
The rest of the temple is modest, as you would come to expect from a civilization that has kept themselves secluded for several centuries. Xun leads you down a few hallways to a locked room covered in wooden paneling on the inside. As the door swings open, you can see what has been kept safe for all this time.
Piles of dusty scrolls rest on wooden tables, surrounded by carvings of bone and wood, pieces of pottery, masks made from obsidian… all cultural items of some note you had accumulated over the years.
"What?!?" Max asks furiously. "Where's the gold? The jewels?! The Crown of Genghis Khan?!"
"Zat horrific thing was garish. I wore it vor precisely vun ceremony and never laid eyes upon it again." You were not distraught to have lost track of it over the ages.
"At least tell me you have that Shensow whatever?" Max begs.
"The Rooster Talisman," Xun says. "As the only truly magical item in our possession, the clan has been keen to seclude it from prying eyes for centuries."
Arizona walks over to a table and picks up a scroll. As he looks on the diagrams contained within, he seems elated. "I knew it! The real secret of Xanadu isn't the ancient Mongol treasure, it's the knowledge they kept! Knowledge is the greatest treasure of all!"
Max looks furious by this sudden declaration. "No! Treasure is the greatest treasure of all! That's why it's called treasure!"
"I couldn't agree more," an oily voice from behind you speaks. "But I think I can still squeeze some use out of the gargoyles."
Dr. Kranz grins wickedly as he holds up an octagonal stone emblazoned with a symbol of a rooster. He squeezes it, causing the talisman to glow with red light!
"Uh… gargoyles?" Max echoes. "Like those things on downspouts and churches?"
"I dunno, the only thing the guidebook says is that they're found all over the world and they sit on buildings during the day. Seems like they were pretty common way back when."
The clan leader - Xun, if they're still passing along names as they did in your time, looks at you with disbelief.
"You are the Great Khan?" he asks in surprise. "You who made the first contact with our kind?"
"I am." You see no reason to deny your identity.
"Don't tell me," Max says. "You're over a thousand years old? You've already met, I'm sure."
"No," Xun says. "But our people have long memories. Come with me."
Following the elderly clan leader and his honor guard, your group is escorted into Xanadu. The gargoyles, recently awakened from their stone sleep, watch you all with a mix of awe, fear, and contempt. Their expressions are unguarded, but their stances are not. The pixu are cautious of the outsiders, even if some appear to have never laid eyes on humans before.
The gargoyles stop at the aged stone temple, permitting your group to enter. A pair of the gargoyles, a humanoid one and a gargoyle beast, light lanterns inside the building with torches held in hand and mouth, respectively.
When all lanterns are lit, the image becomes clear. A visual history of the Khans and the Xanadu, starting with a red, serpentine gargoyle that bore the name of Xun and yourself. Now that you are wearing mystical wings of ruby, the picture becomes all the more uncanny.
"For generations, the Xanadu have maintained the art of our ancestors. You are the Great Khan. How, after over seven hundred years, have you returned from the realm of the dead?"
"The people of zis time holdt great magic," you begin, but then notice your tutor glaring at you sternly. "Not magic. But power. Vun of mine descendants saw fit to use zis power to return me to ze worldt."
"Not magic?" Xun asks askance. "Then what?"
"Ze powah ov science!" Ludivine declares.
"Such miracles as my clan has never considered…" the leader responds.
"Eh, I wouldn't get too excited," the witch-girl notes. "I asked if we could maybe bring back John Keats too, Doof said Khan was kinda a one-time thing."
"He couldn't clone me a new body either," Felldrake grumbles.
"Speaking of Khan," she continued, ignoring Felldrake. "How come you made an ancient pact with them? And how are they still around after seven hundred some years?"
You think back to a time long past, when your great conquests had only begun. It was in the middle of your campaign to conquer the Jin dynasty when some of your troops first came across the reclusive clan. Seeing no reason not to extend them the same courtesies you offered every other tribe, you had opened negotiations with the clan leader. It was against the advice of your lieutenants and some members of your family, but you had no regrets from it.
"I offered them a chance to join my empire, with all the protections that would entail. Throughout my lifetime there were no significant conflicts between this clan and my people."
"Fascinating! To think that there were political agreements between the local warlords and hidden gargoyle clans!" Arizona exclaims happily. "Aw, I bet I can write a thesis on this! How many other leaders made pacts with gargoyles long ago?"
"Don't count on it," Janna explained. "They kinda wanna stay hidden, you know? Academia probably isn't gonna like you citing things you've only seen yourself, and I don't think the clans will like it either."
"Aww…"
"The first Xun called your reign a harsh rule, but a fair one. All were fair under your laws. For better or worse, you encouraged our continued interaction with the outside world."
"That fits the history books," Arizona Goof says. "Temujin's biggest goal was making everyone get along." You look at him strangely for phrasing it as such, but do not disagree. In your time, traitors and violators of your laws would be punished severely. Whether that meant a swift beheading or being smashed to dust during the day, it made no difference.
"The years following your death went… poorly." Xun emphasized the last word. "Your descendants did not see fit to honor the agreement you made with us. At first that came in the form of ceasing trade and lessened contact. Our ancestors did not care at first… until the occupation."
You frown. What could your descendants have done?
"At first, they did not understand the cause for the hostility in your children. The laws became more strict, increasingly hostile to our kind. We lost much in this time. Family. Culture. Records from before the occupation have been lost to the winds."
Your allies take on more somber expressions as Xun recounts his clan's history. By extension, the legacy you left behind.
"We did not take kindly to this invasion upon our very way of life, but we did not truly rebel until your descendants tried to seize our rookery."
A cold breeze blows into the decrepit temple. The old lanterns flicker, casting shadows upon your image along the walls.
"The rookery is the heart of the clan. When it became clear what the Khans had in mind for future generations of our people, we could bear them no longer. Your children were banished from Xanadu as their own empire crumbled around them, and we have had our gates closed to interference from outsiders ever since."
You grunt. If it is as they say, the actions of the gargoyles were just. You spent decades forging unity and trying to cement honor among your people. Always, you had feared your death would herald its end. "That was never what I intended for our people. But now-"
"I know what you will ask, Great Khan," Xun replies. "The answer is no. Never again will Xanadu prostate itself before outsiders. The wounds of centuries past leave scars all the same."
There is a pause as nothing is heard but the soft whisper of the mountain wind.
"However."
Diplomacy Check - Avoided due to Crit!
"We are not thieves. Long ago, you entrusted us with your treasures, Khan, and never did you break our pact. These items we kept from your unworthy successors, we will return to you."
Janna grins "Sweet."
"At least the trip won't be a total waste," Max says.
"Normally I'd say these belong in a museum," Arizona says. "But I reckon if this stuff was yours, you ought ta have it!"
As Xun leads your group deeper into the temple, the witch-girl starts to talk to her staff. "Soooo, Felldrake. How were you gonna use an army of people that turn into stone during the day to take over the world?"
"I told you, I never actually visited Xanadu! I just knew it was significant somehow and had some cool monsters!"
The gargoyles escorting you look annoyed. One of the beasts, a shaggy black and white lion, growls in aggrevation.
"Relax guys," Janna says. "We're taking 'monster' back."
"Anyway yeah, I was just planning on rounding up some good minions. Before we showed up I just assumed we'd be facing down a bunch of rogue meteorbeasts."
"What's a meteorbeast?" Max questions nervously.
"I'll tell you when we go to Norway."
The rest of the temple is modest, as you would come to expect from a civilization that has kept themselves secluded for several centuries. Xun leads you down a few hallways to a locked room covered in wooden paneling on the inside. As the door swings open, you can see what has been kept safe for all this time.
Piles of dusty scrolls rest on wooden tables, surrounded by carvings of bone and wood, pieces of pottery, masks made from obsidian… all cultural items of some note you had accumulated over the years.
"What?!?" Max asks furiously. "Where's the gold? The jewels?! The Crown of Genghis Khan?!"
"Zat horrific thing was garish. I wore it vor precisely vun ceremony and never laid eyes upon it again." You were not distraught to have lost track of it over the ages.
"At least tell me you have that Shensow whatever?" Max begs.
"The Rooster Talisman," Xun says. "As the only truly magical item in our possession, the clan has been keen to seclude it from prying eyes for centuries."
Arizona walks over to a table and picks up a scroll. As he looks on the diagrams contained within, he seems elated. "I knew it! The real secret of Xanadu isn't the ancient Mongol treasure, it's the knowledge they kept! Knowledge is the greatest treasure of all!"
Max looks furious by this sudden declaration. "No! Treasure is the greatest treasure of all! That's why it's called treasure!"
"I couldn't agree more," an oily voice from behind you speaks. "But I think I can still squeeze some use out of the gargoyles."
Dr. Kranz grins wickedly as he holds up an octagonal stone emblazoned with a symbol of a rooster. He squeezes it, causing the talisman to glow with red light!
